Only a Third of Voters Believe in the American Dream

The American dream, that if someone works hard they will be able to get ahead in life, is typically visualized with the stereotypical house with a white picket fence and a two-car garage. But the number of Americans who think that dream is attainable is rapidly declining according to a new poll.

Only a little more than a third of Americans, 36%, say they believe the American dream holds true today, compared to 45% who say it no longer exists and 18% who say it never existed at all.

The survey, conducted by US media and released on Friday, polled 1,163 registered voters. It asked “Do you think the American dream--that if you work hard you'll get ahead--still holds, never held true, or once held true but does not anymore?”

Last year, a poll by the same outlet showed that 68% of respondents said that people who work hard will likely get ahead in the US.

The pessimism was most pronounced among women, with only 28% saying they believe the American dream still holds, while 46% of men feel that way. Unsurprisingly, respondents over 65, those most likely to be retired and out of the workforce, were the most likely to think that hard work still gets you ahead in America, with 48% saying they feel that way, compared to just 28% of people under 50.

Americans are also distrustful of the American system in general. Half of respondents said they believe the economic and political systems in the US are “stacked against people” like themselves. Only 39% of voters disagreed with that statement. That sentiment was most prominent among black voters, with 68% feeling that the systems in the US are stacked against them.

Less than a third, 30%, of voters believe that life in America is better than it was 50 years ago, compared to 50% who believe it has gotten worse and 20% who say it’s about the same.

Despite the growing pessimism about life in the US, more Americans are optimistic about the economy compared to last year, according to the poll. While the number of people who ranked the economy as excellent or good was still low, only 35%, that is a marked improvement from March when that number was only 20% and in May 2022 when it was 17%. Sixty-five percent rated the economy as “Not so good” or “Poor.”

Still, it would be difficult to call those numbers robust. Of note, only 2% of respondents rated the economy as “Excellent.”

The pessimism in the United States is understandable since in 2022, inflation outpaced wages for the second year in a row. When adjusted for inflation, real wages only grew $0.18 from 1973 to February 2022.

Meanwhile, the cost of owning a house has also exploded in price, far outpacing inflation. According to a real estate research group, if the price of housing tracked with inflation, the median home price in the US would be $177,788 instead of the $408,100 it is in 2023.